Anne & Tahoe (along with cats Dexter & Chevy) occupy a spacious 1927 bungalow in what used to be P.T Barnum's (of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey) "Barnum Town". Established in 1871, the neighborhood has a rich history and is currently one of the most affordable up-and-coming Denver neighborhoods.

With two English degrees and zero construction experience at all, the duo dug right in. Scraping the bathroom down to the studs forced Anne & Tahoe to kick it 1871 style and bathe ...creatively, for nine months until the bathroom was finished. The final product was well worth the wait; Tahoe built and plumbed the tub and shower by himself and Anne became an expert tile mason.

Anne's advice on home renovation is: "1) You can do it. 2) It's never done". Once the kitchen is finished operations will move downstairs to the media room, laundry room and extra bedrooms. To see how far the house has come, check out Anne's documentation of the journey: This Mess is a House

Biggest Challenge: Resurfacing the plaster walls -- they used to be really porous/bumpy. I thought it would take a couple of weeks. It took six months.

What Friends Say: You did this?

Biggest Embarrassment: We ripped everything out at once, including taking the bathroom down to the studs. Result: we didn't have a shower/tub for nine months. It was summer for the bulk of that time, so we took hose showers out back at first. When it got too cold, I filled the washing machine in the basement, stuck my legs in, and took a "bath." Classy.

Proudest DIY: My husband built and plumbed the tub and shower himself. We were both English majors, no construction experience at all.